St. John’s city council will make a decision August 5 on a controversial proposal from the Anglican Church to build an annex onto the Anglican Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in downtown St. John’s.
The Newfoundland and Labrador Historic Trust wants the city to put the brakes on, as they would prefer more time to evaluate the project.
(Photo by Amy Fitzpatrick.)
There was mixed reaction to the plan at a public hearing last night, called by the City of St. John’s.
The property was declared a National Historic Site in 1981—a designation which comes with restrictions on what can be done to the property.
Heather McLellan reviewed Parks Canada regulations and believes the project contravenes many of those rules. She ran her own assessment of the guidelines relating to the proposal, and says she found what she believes to be 31 instances where the project violates restrictions.
(Photo by Amy Fitzpatrick.)
A spokesman for the Historic Trust says the project is another instance in which city council has disregarded the recommendations of the Built Heritage Experts Panel. The Trust says they had only four business days to get their material together and review the proposal.
MUN Historian Robert Sweeny spoke about the historic importance of the site at the meeting. Listen below:
Renders presented by the applicant at yesterday’s meeting:
